July 27 Quick Takes: Cidara, Melinta in deal for antifungal headed to FDA

Cidara Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:CDTX) concurrently announced the submission of an NDA for antifungal rezafungin and a deal with Melinta Therapeutics LLC to commercialize the treatment. Cidara will receive $30 million up front. It is eligible for $460 million in milestones, plus royalties. The partners are seeking FDA’s approval of the IV formulation of echinocandin antifungal biafungin to treat candidemia and invasive candidiasis in adults, and to prevent invasive fungal infections in patients undergoing allogeneic blood and marrow transplantation.

Shares of Legend Biotech Corp. (NASDAQ:LEGN) rose 11% to $48.21 Wednesday, a day after the CAR T company raised $350 million in a bumped up follow-on. The company, which was seeking to raise $250 million, sold 8.1 million ADSs at $43 per ADS — a 15% discount to the ADS’s close of $50.50 on Monday, before the offering was announced. The deal comes a week after the company reported its preliminary sales of multiple myeloma CAR T therapy Carvykti ciltacabtagene autoleucel, which brought in $24 million in 2Q22...